Knowledge gaps, behaviour parity: gender differences in financial literacy in Europe

Disclaimer:This publication should not be reported as representing the views of the European Central Bank (ECB). The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the ECB. Special thanks to:Daniela Marconi, Banca d’Italia;Jan Babecky, National Bank of Slovakia and Institute for Forecasting, Slovak Academy of Sciences;Egle Jakucionyte, Lietuvos Bankas and Vilnius University;Swapnil Singh, Lietuvos Bankas and Kaunas University of Technology;Lara Wemans, Banco de Portugal. This report examines gender differences in financial knowledge and behaviour across 20 EU Member States using data from a 2022 survey coordinated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s International Network on Financial Education’s (OECD/INFE). The analysis documents how large – and how diverse – these gaps are across Member States, identifies the individual and structural factors associated with financial knowledge and discusses the policy implications. Why financial knowledge matters. Financial knowledge influences people’s ability to manage day-to-day decisions, plan for the long term and protect themselves from financial risks such as fraud. Gender gaps in this knowledge contribute to unequal wealth accumulation and lower financial resilience among women. Addressing these gaps is important for individual well-being and broader financial prosperity. What the data show across Member States. The gender gap in financial knowledge exists in almost all countries studied, but its magnitude varies widely. Member States also differ significantly in their overall levels of financial knowledge and in the share of low- and top-performing individuals. Nonetheless, women are consistently under-represented among top performers, especially in investment-related knowledge, where gaps are largest. By contrast, there is almost no gender gap in financial behaviour, with women often displaying more prudent financial habits. What drives financial knowledge differences. Education, employment and age are all strongly linked to higher financial knowledge, but even considering these factors, women tend to score lower on knowledge and higher on prudent behaviour. Women are 11% less likely to be top performers and 4% more likely to be low performers than men with similar characteristics. The gap is therefore shaped by both socioeconomic factors and structural differences in how these characteristics translate into financial knowledge. Consequences for resilience and investment. Financial knowledge is strongly associated with both financial resilience and investment participation. Women are less likely to hold investment products or be financially resilient in nearly half of the Member States studied. Moving from low to high levels of financial knowledge substantially raises the probability of being resilient or of holding investment products, highlighting the potential impact of targeted interventions. Policy implications. The findings suggest three main directions for policymakers: Understanding gender differences in financial knowledge and financial behaviour is increasingly important, given their potential impact on economic resilience, financial inclusion and long-term well-being. This impact extends beyond the individual level: the macroeconomic benefits of widespread financial literacy are increasingly recognised, as it enhances the effectiveness of monetary policy and supports the deepening of capital markets (Schnabel, 2025; European Commission, 2025). A large and growing body of literature documents not only persistent gender gaps in financial literacy but also the economic consequences of this: women tend to accumulate less wealth, invest less in financial markets and are more exposed to financial vulnerability (Lusardi and Mitchell, 2014; Lusardi and Mitchell, 2008; Bucher-Koenen et al., 2025b; Bucher-Koenen et al., 2017). In Europe, these disparities have gained prominence as financial markets deepen and individuals assume greater responsibility for long-term financial planning. Meanwhile, the rapid expansion of information technology has not only increased access to financial services and products, but also made financial fraud more widespread, frequent and also more damaging to individuals’ financial well-being. In this context, financial literacy can play a crucial role in reducing vulnerability, including to fraud, by enhancing individuals’ ability to recognise and avoid deceptive schemes. It is therefore essential to understand the root causes of the gender gap in order to identify effective policies to close it. This study uses OECD/INFE survey data from 20 EU Member States to document cross-country patterns and explore what determines the gender gap in financial knowledge and behaviour (OECD, 2022).[1]Its objectives are to: (i) highlight key stylised facts on the gender gap in financial knowledge across EU Member States; (ii) analyse the individual characteristics most strongly associated with financial knowledge, examining also the decomposition of the gap both within and between EU Member States to ascertain country-specific factors beyond observable individual characteristics; (iii) assess the marginal contribution of financial knowledge to critical outcomes such as resilience and financial market participation; (iv) draw preliminary policy implications. The OECD (2022) measures financial knowledge using seven questions covering the following: (1) the time value of money, (2) interest on a loan, (3) simple interest calculation, (4) compound interest calculation, (5) risk and return, (6) inflation, and (7) risk diversification. A well-established finding in the literature is that females generally answer more questions incorrectly than males; this pattern also holds in Europe. The gender gap in financial knowledge is statistically significant in 18 out of 20 EU Member States considered (Figure 1). Countries in the sample differ markedly in their overall levels of financial knowledge. Notes: Unconditional average gender gap computed as female FK minus male FK score. The FK score is computed on seven questions (OECD/INFE toolkit, 2022) and normalised between 0 and 1. Figure 2 presents the distribution of low and top performers in financial knowledge by country and gender. It reveals substantial cross-country heterogeneity in the shares of both low and top performers.[2] Financial knowledge: percentage of top and low performers by gender and country Notes: Low performers are defined as those answering fewer than three questions correctly, and top performers those answering all seven questions correctly. While there is a clear tendency for Member States with a high share of low performers to also have a low share of high performers, some exceptions are notable. For instance, relatively high percentages of women in Sweden belong to either group, suggesting a wider dispersion of results. Conversely, Cyprus has a low prevalence of belonging to both groups, signalling a more homogeneous distribution of financial knowledge among women. Nonetheless, in all countries studied, women are markedly under-represented among top performers. From a policy perspective, these findings have important implications. Two Member States may have similar average scores but very different distributions. Looking at top and low performers makes it possible to understand whether the distribution is more or less equal towards the top or the bottom, indicating the extent of the required differentiation in targeting financial education intervention. Overall, both men and women score higher on topics related to everyday financial decision-making and lower on those concerning investment decisions. The gender gap is more pronounced for the latter (16%, compared with 5%, Figure 3). Notes: Daily FK sums correct answers on time value of money, interest on loan, inflation; Investment FK sums correct answers on simple and compound interest rates, risk/reward and divers